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The Lion Portal Opens

by Melanie Reinhart

A personal response to the London
bombings, July 7th, 2005

On July 7th, 2005 bomb blasts ripped through London, capital city
of Great Britain, killing around 50 people and injuring about
700, many seriously. At the time of writing, the underground tunnels
in which the explosions occurred have yet to be fully cleared,
and there may still be bodies trapped in the wreckage. For the
collective imagination of London and the South-East of England,
home to hundreds of thousands of people who work in the Capital,
their Worst Nightmare came true.

The dis-aster was especially poignant in its timing, occurring
as it did in the week when London heard of its successful bid
to host the 2012 Olympics. In Edinburgh the G8 summit was underway,
and the â€˜Live 8â€™ musical fund-raising event had just been staged.
Four carved lions guard the points between the cardinal directions
in Trafalgar Square, and the anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar
had been recently celebrated. In this essay I offer some reflections
on the symbolism of this juxtaposition.

I find myself writing as â€˜a Londonerâ€™, in solidarity with the
people. I feel loyalty and gratitude to this extraordinary city,
my home for 22 years, and where I still work. The fact that as
an outsider, I can feel this sense of â€˜homeâ€™ about London is not
unusual. It is â€˜exile cityâ€™, where people from every nation on
earth congregate, working and living together and generating a
unique spirit of â€˜London-nessâ€™, which I would describe as â€˜unity
in diversityâ€™.

Heralds in the Solstice Chart

Although it is easy to dismiss the wisdom of hindsight,
retrospective views can be useful by underlining the symbolism
unfolding. In the mystical traditions of many cultures, it is
said that life is like a dream from which we are to awaken. This
is not to discount the agonising reality of what we experience,
but to recognise at the same time that reality is multi-layered
and complex, and that our interpretive mind best hold lightly
to thoughts bound to be limited, partial, and even sometimes misleading.
Astrological symbolism, from a living tradition, seeks to accompany,
clarify and contextualise rather than to â€˜explainâ€™, leaving the
symbol to speak for itself. Just as a dream may continue to reveal
fresh meaning and significance, so it is with the astrological
symbolism, embedded deep as it is in the collective psyche of
humanity.

So in this spirit let us explore the astrological patterns that
surround these tragic events.

Firstly, a look at the chart for the Summer Solstice will reveal
an interesting pattern: a Cardinal T-square with the Nodal Axis,
Mars, Jupiter and the Sun. As all aspects are applying, they matured
over the next couple of weeks, when no doubt final plans were
being put in place to coordinate the detonations. The date list
below makes this clear. Note also the following details about
the chart itself:

Of course this Solstice chart is the same all over the world,
the pattern simply shifting around the houses according to the
location for which the chart is cast. However, anyone familiar
with the UK 1801 chart would not have failed to notice that Mercury,
apex of the Yod on the Solstice chart is exactly conjunct the
10th house Moon of this chart, within 21â€™ of arc. This Mercury
lies quietly in the 12th house of â€˜hidden influencesâ€™, and is
the general ruler of matters related to transport and communication.

The other planetary position of note is Uranus in the 8th house,
with Jupiter applying to a quincunx which became exact the day
after the blasts. In the UK 1922 chart, Uranus is at 9.49 Pisces,
meaning 2005 sees the Uranus Return of the time when partition
occurred in Northern Ireland. In an individualâ€™s life, occurring
as it does at around the age of 84, the Uranus Return is a â€˜wake-up
callâ€™ and seems to either bring new life, clarity and acuteness
of consciousness, or signal a contraction and pulling away from
life which will in turn herald death. It is potentially a time
of spiritual awakening. Might we dare to hope for healing of the
wound of â€˜The Troublesâ€™ in Northern Ireland? The alternative looks
like 21st Century London becoming another Belfast, with a different
kind of â€˜enemy withinâ€™.

The terrorist war plaguing the city of Belfast and other areas
in Northern Ireland has been like a bleeding sore for a very long
time, and perhaps the bomb blasts in London will serve to bring
renewed focus on this issue. The wound of â€˜The Troublesâ€™ has been
hurting for so long that it has perhaps receded from the awareness
of many people, anaesthetised by repetition and familiarity. This
terrible war has been fought not by â€˜foreignersâ€™ or â€˜Islamist
extremistsâ€™ but by people against their own neighbours, divided
along sectarian lines. Recent years have seen a cycle of hopes
dashed as encouraging moves are undermined or blocked. It is perhaps
not surprising that various people in power have sought to displace
their focus on to more high profile and glamorous causes elsewhere,
while the blood flows past their front doorstep, so to speak.
The fact that the UK is a nation perpetually at war with itself
seems to have escaped the nationâ€™s self-definition.

The Sabian Symbol

On June 26th there was a triple conjunction of Venus, Mercury
and Saturn, which was also visible in the sky as a sight of great
beauty. It occurred in the 27th degree of Cancer, and can also
be seen as a herald of events then forthcoming. In astrology,
symbols can be attributed to each degree of the zodiac, and one
such set gives the keyword CATHARSIS, with following images and
interpretation:

A VIOLENT STORM IN A CANYON FILLED WITH EXPENSIVE HOMES.

A confrontation with a social upheaval demanding the reconsideration
of static values.

â€œ â€¦. The sociocultural elite can always see its position and
security challenged by forces beyond its control, even if it may
be successful in protecting itself from destruction. The individual
may not be able to depend on the standards and values â€¦ acquired
through education â€¦ and a relatively sheltered and rich life.
He has to rise to the occasion, and perhaps to undergo an inner
metamorphosis as a result of the crisis he has been able to accept
as a personal challengeâ€¦.. the challenge to meet a crisis situation
brought about by uncontrollable karmic forcesâ€¦â€¦.â€